por admin » Jue Nov 15, 2012 10:34 pm
Fed sigue viendo problemas en el sector de las casas, especialmente la restriccion de los creditos, los endeudados que piden prestamos y la morosidad en los prestamos. Bernanke se mostro muy cauteloso respecto al progreso de la recuperacion de la economia.
Sus comentariso fueron especialmente notables por que en Setiembre el Fed lanzo un programa de compra de $40 billones de bonos de hipotecas al mes. Este plan precisamente fue diseniado para ayudar a mejorar el sector.
El Fed dijo que seguiran comprando bonos hasta que se vea una sustancial mejoria en la economia, especialmente en el sector laboral.
Fed Sees Hurdles in Housing Rebound
By JON HILSENRATH
The housing market, despite nascent signs of revival, is still plagued by tight credit, underwater borrowers and overdue loans, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Thursday that expressed a great deal of caution about the progress of the U.S. economic recovery.
The comments were notable because the Fed in September launched a program to buy $40 billion per month of mortgage-backed securities, a plan designed in part to ease mortgage lending to support a housing rebound.
The central bank said it would keep buying bonds until it saw substantial progress in the economy, most notably in the job market. But the Fed chairman played down how much progress has been achieved in the critical housing sector.
"Although there are good reasons to be encouraged by the recent direction of the housing market, we should not be satisfied with the progress we have seen so far," Mr. Bernanke said at a housing conference in Atlanta.
About the broader economy, he added, "we understand the depth of the problem and the need for action, and we will continue to use the policy tools that we have to help support economic recovery."
Mortgage Delinquencies Near Four-Year Low
Fed officials next meet Dec. 11-12 to plot out their next steps on interest-rate policies. Bond-buying programs are aimed, in part, at pushing down long-term interest rates.
In addition to the open-ended mortgage-bond-purchase program, the Fed has been conducting Operation Twist, a program in which it is buying $45 billion per month of long-term Treasury securities, funded with sales of short-term securities. The Twist program ends in December, and officials must decide whether to replace it or let it expire.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in a speech late Wednesday that he expected the Fed to continue its bond-buying programs "well into the second half of next year."
But other officials disagree. "We should be standing pat now rather than easing policy further," Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said Thursday.
Mr. Bernanke avoided delving into looming monetary policy questions in his comments. Instead he spoke at length about the housing recovery and the availability of credit to borrowers. Home building and home prices are rising, and homes have become more affordable. But he warned about lasting problems in the mortgage credit market, among them that some banks still are reluctant to make new loans.
"Certainly, some tightening of credit standards was an appropriate response to the lax lending conditions that prevailed in the years leading up to the peak in house prices," Mr. Bernanke said.
But now, he said, the pendulum has likely swung too far in the other direction. "Overly tight lending standards may now be preventing creditworthy borrowers from buying homes, thereby slowing the revival in housing and impeding the economy recovery," he said.
In addition to setting monetary policy, the Fed regulates banks. Its comments about credit standards are therefore closely watched by loan officers.